In a presentation to the State Board of Education this month, experts revealed hundreds of teachers across the state are failing the test they must pass to teach in North Carolina, and it’s getting worse each year.

The board changed the required test for elementary teachers with zero to two years of experience in 2014.

“The math level on this particular test far outreaches the training that an elementary school teacher would have been given at college or a university and far exceeds what we will ever be required to teach in a K-5 classroom,” Krista Ricks, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elementary school teacher, said.

Ricks has 19 years of teaching experience, so she doesn’t have to take the test. Several of her colleagues, though, do, and they’ve failed.

The board is making changes to address the issue. Teachers rated effective by their employer can continue teaching for a year, and a state committee is looking at alternatives to the test.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction said the board and superintendent are working toward a long-term solution by the end of the year.

Pearson, the maker of the test, sent Channel 9 the below statement:

"Pearson supports the efforts of the North Carolina Board of Education (BOE) to have high-quality, valid educator licensure assessments. We have been working with the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and North Carolina educators to implement the exams on behalf of the State to help North Carolina achieve its education goals. North Carolina teachers are deeply involved throughout the process of validating educator licensure assessments. Test scores required for passing are determined by the State and are informed by recommendations from North Carolina educators resulting from standard setting activities."